Chapter 242 Returning a favor

On the next week's rest day, Zhan's mother asked her daughter to bring Chen Yanming to her house for a meal. She was afraid that Zhan's father's cooking would not suit the future son-in-law's appetite, so she specially asked her second sister and eldest sister-in-law to come to her house to help cook.

Zhan's mother and Zhan's father were satisfied with Chen Yanming. He had a good job and status, so the eldest and second aunts were naturally satisfied and treated him

very well. So Chen Yanming and Zhan Qiuran officially established a relationship, but they did not discuss marriage for the time being. The main reason was that Chen Yanming and Zhan Qiuran were both busy, and both wanted to enjoy their love time.

After all, they had just gotten married and felt fresh.

Now that they are not burdened by children and housework, they meet every two days to eat, watch movies, go to bookstores, or go to No. 8 Courtyard to have dinner with Lin Shu. They feel that their daily life is quite enjoyable.

Lin Shu thinks it is great and supports them very much. She also encourages them to get along with each other more.

However, Lu Shaotang hopes that they will get married as soon as possible, just like Zhan's father and mother. He naturally does not urge them in person, but he can't help complaining to Lin Shu that it is easy to make mistakes if you don't get married.

Lin Shu naturally knows what he is thinking. It's nothing more than that he is disgusted with Chen Yanming running out to have a relationship all day and delaying his business trips.

Anyway, Lu Shaotang is very busy these days. Although he doesn't have a long business trip, he can't go home every day.

Thanks to Lin Shu here, he can see her when he goes home, so he feels better.

During this period, Lin Shu and Lu Shaotang also went back to their hometown twice, one because they missed their children, and the other was to go back to discuss cooperation with the brigade on a new sideline business. They asked Fang Dihua to help Xiuxiu find a few girls and old women to make hats, and then find a few clever girls to learn to make clothes together.

Panpan and Tiantian were very happy to know that their godfather had found a partner. They planned to live in the Qizhou family compound after the wheat harvest and their uncle and aunt got married, and then help their godfather arrange the wedding!

Time passed quickly, and the wheat turned yellow in a blink of an eye, and the hometown was busy harvesting wheat. The weather was getting hotter

and hotter, and seasonal vegetables began to be on the market. Fresh green peppers and chili peppers also appeared on the vegetable stalls, and Lin Shu bought them back to make chopped peppers, pickled peppers, and chili foam.

Although Yang Shumin and the others have learned the method from Lin Shu, they don't know why the food they make is not as delicious as Lin Shu's. It's

almost the same if you eat it casually, but those who like it can taste the slight difference, especially those who know how to eat, such as Zhan Qiuran and Zhan's father and mother.

On this day, Lin Shu was making chili products with Yang Shumin and Zhang Ya at home, and Zhan's mother came to visit. Xiaozhuang

led them in, and as soon as he entered the yard, he shouted upstairs: "Sister-in-law, Brother Chen's mother-in-law is here!"

Lin Shu heard it and looked out from the balcony, and said in surprise: "Aunt Qin, welcome!"

She hurried downstairs to greet her and ran into her at the second floor stairs.

Mother Zhan said embarrassedly, "Xiao Lin, I'm sorry for coming here so abruptly and without saying hello to you."

Lin Shu smiled and said, "This is a pleasant surprise. You're welcome."

Mother Zhan sniffed and there was a spicy and slightly sweet smell in the air. "Are you making chili?"

Lin Shu: "Doctor Zhan said that the chili sauce I made is delicious. And it happens that the fresh chili is on the market, so I will make more for everyone to taste."

Mother Zhan was very happy, "Then I came at the right time, haha."

After entering the house, Lin Shu introduced them to them. Everyone was very enthusiastic because they already knew Zheng Jie.

Mother Zhan couldn't help but complain to Lin Shu: "Our husband Zhan's cooking is too watery. It makes us mother and son feel tasteless

. We would rather eat in the cafeteria." Father Zhan's cooking is light, with less oil and salt. Sometimes he cooks vegetables directly with salt water and then adds a spoonful of oil, just like the people in the countryside who don't have oil. The taste is really not good.

Mother Zhan asked him to cook, but he said he did it. Most of the time, he just stir-fried the food with cold oil and added water.

You told him to wait until the pot is hot before pouring oil and stir-frying it, and he said I heated it up and fried it.

Mother Zhan complained that her husband's cooking was not delicious, but she couldn't cook it either. The oil droplets from cooking would scare her to death.

Recently, she found that the chili sauce, chili oil, meat sauce and other things brought back by her daughter-in-law are delicious. They are delicious when mixed into dishes or eaten directly with steamed buns or rolls. Her appetite has improved a lot.

Especially the chili oil, it is really fragrant, without any bitterness.

She brought two kilograms of meat tickets, two kilograms of pork belly and two kilograms of beef, and two kilograms of brown sugar today, just to make chili meat sauce.

She doesn't know how to make it, so she can only ask Lin Shu to help her, but she can't directly call on others, so naturally they have to make it together.

If she is not good at cooking, she can always cut vegetables and help.

Lin Shu happened to be making it, so she didn't need her share.

However, meat sauce is best made with dried chilies instead of fresh chilies, so she plans to make the meat sauce in the afternoon after dinner.

The fresh chili sauce was almost ready, and it already included the portion for Dr. Zhan, so there was no need to make extra.

Lin Shu started to make lunch.

Yang Shumin and the others had to go home to cook and would not eat here. She left with her two jars of chili.

Mother Zhan was still a little embarrassed, "I heard Zheng Jie praise you many times before Qiu Ran and Yan Ming had a blind date, and I have always wanted to meet you."

Lin Shu helped make clothes, gave them mosquito coils and sanitary incense, sold flowers, medicinal wine, etc., and she would naturally share anything Zheng Jie had with Mother Zhan.

It can be said that Lin Shu has long been famous in Zheng Jie's circle.

Lin Shu saw that Mrs. Zhan was a little embarrassed, so she didn't bother to be polite with her, but asked her to help wash the bean sprouts, "We're having small pancakes with vegetables for lunch?"

There were many vegetables now, small green vegetables, bean sprouts, leeks, lettuce, fresh green onions, garlic sprouts, but unfortunately the cucumbers were too small for the cow to eat, but there were also kelp shreds, pickled mustard greens, pickled Chinese toon, thousand sheets of rice, etc.

Boil two more cups of flour and roll the small pancakes directly on the griddle.

There was no need to light a fire to heat the griddle upstairs, just put the small griddle on the stove.

Mrs. Zhan helped cut the vegetable shreds while watching Lin Shu roll the pancakes skillfully, and she was amazed in her heart.

No wonder the daughter-in-law said that Lu Shaotang and Chen Yanming were blessed. She envied Lin Shu's mother and mother-in-law.

While Lin Shu was rolling the pancakes, she talked to Zhan's mother while watching her cut vegetables calmly.

Well, it was the first time she saw someone cut potato shreds like stool legs!

So thick!

After rolling the pancakes, Lin Shu quickly fried the ones that needed to be fried, blanched the ones that needed to be blanched, and then cooled them and put them on the tray.

There were fresh chili sauce, chili oil, sweet bean sauce and black bean sauce on the table. You could dip it in whatever you wanted.

Mrs. Zhan was convinced. Look at it. This is what they call eating, while Mr. Zhan is just dealing with others!

There was no meat on the table, but she felt it was very rich.

Rich does not necessarily mean meat and fish, but it depends on whether there is heart.

She decided to go back and have a good talk with Mr. Zhan in the evening.

If you don’t have some cooking skills, do you have the nerve to let your daughter-in-law take her son-in-law home to live?

They will go home to eat your salty dishes?

Although she is a leader and is serious at work, she is very open at other times. She doesn’t put on airs at all, and she doesn’t care about the compliments she says to Lin Shu.

"Xiao Lin, I finally understand the saying 'home-cooked food can reflect a person's cooking skills.'"

She picked up a small pancake, spread a little bean paste and chili sauce on it, and then began to wrap it with bean curd sheets and shredded vegetables, rolled it up and stuffed it into her mouth. It was crunchy and fresh, and the mouth was full of fragrance, which made her feel particularly satisfied.

It was so delicious that she couldn't stop eating it!

Lin Shu smiled and served her a bowl of seaweed egg drop soup, "Let's fry meat sauce in the afternoon, and you can go home and taste it with your uncle in the evening."

Mother Zhan wanted to say that Lao Zhan was not worthy of her. For so many years, he had just cooked for her and never thought about spending some time for his wife and daughters.

Lu Shaotang didn't come back today, and Xiaozhuang didn't disturb them even though they had guests at home. The two of them had a great meal

. Mother Zhan felt that she was full, it was so delicious, she wanted more, and she ate too much without realizing it.

After dinner, the two of them sat under the window drinking tea and chatting.

Naturally, they talked about Zhan Qiuran and Chen Yanming.

Mother Zhan smiled and said, "These two children have no experience, and they haven't taken the initiative to talk about engagement and marriage. Do Yanming's parents... have any advice?"

Lin Shu didn't hide anything from her, and there was no need to beat around the bush. Talking about marriage requires sincerity. After all, this is not a real business. If any problems are not talked about before marriage, they will become pitfalls after marriage.

She sighed, "Aunt Qin, I won't hide it from you. Chen Yanming's parents cannot be relied upon. Although it is said that there is no parent in the world who does not love their children, there are always a few parents who are partial to one child or the other. Chen Yanming's parents do not participate in his marriage, and he makes all the decisions himself. But he has no experience and still needs Aunt Qin and Uncle Zhan to love him."

She and Lu Shaotang are good friends of Chen Yanming, but the Zhan family will be Chen Yanming's in-laws in the future, and they are his relatives. Naturally, Lin Shu will not take on too much responsibility.

Mother Zhan was very happy to hear Lin Shu say this, "Ran Ran said that Chen Yanming is lucky to have good friends like Director Lu and you. They are like family members."

Lin Shu told Mother Zhan about Chen Yanming's salary, "He is a man who lives by his means and never spends money lavishly. However, he is a kind person. Every month, he and Lu Shaotang will take some money to help comrades in need."

Mother Zhan nodded slightly, "Their comradeship is extraordinary. We can understand."

Lin Shu smiled She said, "But don't worry, he is not the kind of person who has no plans. Ninety percent of his wages are saved."

She got up and took out a notebook from the cabinet next to her, and came back to show it to Mother Zhan, "The money for the betrothal gift and the wedding is sufficient. The couple will not lack money for their life after marriage."

Mother Zhan hesitated for a moment, but still picked it up to have a look. It turned out to be Chen Yanming's salary account book, with each item clearly listed. It looked simpler and clearer than the accounts in their department store.

A look of admiration flashed in her eyes, "Xiao Lin, you have done a neat accounting."

Lin Shu smiled and said, "I'm used to it. Our family has always kept accounts this way. The main reason is that we have a large family and many people in each branch. In addition, we have opened a side business with the team, so we have to keep accounts."

Although she didn't remember the accounts of the perfume factory, she planned the accounting format, and Lu Ping and his men just used it.

Mother Zhan was shocked. Why was Chen Yanming's salary so high?

Although her daughter's salary was not low, the combined salary of her and Lao Zhan was more than 100 yuan, but Chen Yanming's salary alone was more than one and a half of theirs.

The key is that he still saved so much.

She thought for a moment and smiled, "Let Yanming decide on his own money. As for the betrothal gift, her father and I have discussed it. In the new society and new city, we don't care about those empty things. We mainly need to make two new wedding clothes, two new quilts, and some daily necessities. As for the sewing machine, forget it. They don't know how to use it. Qiu Ran has a bicycle and a watch. We don't need their money, so let them keep it." Although

their daughter loves food, she doesn't like to spend money lavishly or dress up, so most of her salary is saved.

They don't want the daughter's money, and they will put it in the bottom of their box when the time comes.

It can be seen that Chen Yanming earns a lot of money but doesn't spend it lavishly. Since he can give it to Lin Shu, he can also give it to his wife.

But...Mrs. Zhan actually thought that it would be better to let Lin Shu keep it instead of giving it to her daughter. She looked at Lin Shu and was good at saving money.

She looked at the regular and current accounts and made a lot of extra money.

But Mrs. Zhan didn't say much. Chen Yanming became a deputy director at the age of 28. He is not a fool and must have his own plans.

The mother-in-law of an ordinary family may want to take the money from her crappy son-in-law. After all, neither her family nor the son-in-law's family has much money. Whoever gets two more dollars will spend two more dollars. Of course, she wants to try her best to get the money for herself.

For a family like Mrs. Zhan who has plenty of money and whose son-in-law and daughter-in-law both earn a lot of money, they don’t want to take advantage of their son-in-law’s money. They just want the couple to live a good life.

Seeing how reasonable Mrs. Zhan was, Lin Shu smiled and said, “Auntie, it’s not convenient to sew quilts in the city. Why don’t we choose the quilt cover and I’ll take it back to ask Aunt Quanfu and Sister-in-law in our village who are good at sewing to help sew it?”

Mrs. Zhan’s eyes lit up. “That’s great. I’ll find a way to get more cloth.”

She was not very good at sewing.

She felt embarrassed to let Lin Shu do it, so she decided to spend money to find someone to do it.

Lin Shu: "We need to get more cloth. I think they all have their own quilts now, so we can make two new sets for them. It would be best if we make two sets of quilt covers and sheets so that they can be changed and washed."

These days, many country people have one quilt per family. It's good if the couple can have one quilt and the children can have one. Even city people can only have one quilt per couple, one for boys and one for girls. It's not easy to have one bed for each person, let alone quilt covers.

Those who can use quilt covers are really rich.

Mother Zhan was naturally happy, "I'll figure out the cloth."

After all, she was a manager of a department store, so it was very convenient for her to buy anything.

The money is still paid, but it can save cloth coupons. Even if cloth coupons are required for some popular fabrics, they are only distributed among insiders before being put on the counter.

As for the new clothes for the two people's wedding, Lin Shu said that she and her niece are responsible for making them.

She showed her own shirt to Mother Zhan, "This is made by my niece. She has a very good sewing skill. She learned it from an old tailor. She paid money to be an apprentice for three years. The basic skills are very solid."

Mother Zhan smiled and said, "I asked Zheng Jie to help you make it before. You helped make clothes for my eldest and second daughters."

She came here today for another thing, "Our department store wants to make a batch of clothes with some details. Overall, they should not be out of the ordinary, but they should have some unique details. We don't want the regular ones from clothing factories. Water-made clothes, one piece per pattern. I think your craftsmanship is pretty good, so I want to send you the material to make them."

Lin Shu was surprised: "Really?"

Aunt Zhan smiled and said: "Yes, I think your craftsmanship is better than the ones produced on the factory assembly line."

Lin Shu: "If you really give us the materials for processing, we have to ask Aunt Qin to help review it so that we can buy a hemming machine."

The hemming machine has a faucet with buttonholes, and then it can make the same stitches as the factory, but the quality is better, after all, it is made piece by piece.

Aunt Zhan agreed, "That's no problem."

What she said was actually personal customization of clothes, which is the same as buying cloth and spending money to find a tailor to make clothes in the countryside, but Aunt Zhan's customers have higher and more detailed requirements, so the price is naturally higher.

As a manager of a department store, she naturally knows a lot of wealthy and demanding customers. They want to make some clothes that are not out of the ordinary in general, but have better details and stand out from others.

For example, people like Xue Lian always complain that they can't buy clothes that suit their taste, so they can only make them custom-made.

Mrs. Zhan thinks that it is better to entrust it to Lin Shu instead of looking for other tailors, which can be regarded as a

return of favor. The main reason is that Lin Shu's craftsmanship is really good and she is fully capable of doing the job. She also pays attention to the details and

is not the same as everyone else. The collars of the clothes that Zheng Jie asked Lin Shu to make are different. There are round collars, small pointed collars, large lapels, swallowtail collars, etc.

The two chatted speculatively and talked about a lot of clothing styles, hat styles, etc., and also talked about Chen Yanming and Zhan Qiuran's wedding leave.

It was about time, so Lin Shu took her to fry beef sauce and pork belly sauce, both of which were spicy. They

were hot and spicy right after they were fried, and the aroma was so fragrant that it made people drool.

Lin Shu had just heated up the steamed buns, so she cut a slit and put the meat sauce in like a meat bun.

Mother Zhan ate two fist-sized steamed buns and burped from eating.

Lin Shu helped her pack a jar of bean paste and a small jar of the sweet noodle sauce she made. It would only take two days to keep it in this hot weather.

Lin Shu also packed some extra thousand sheets of shredded rice, kelp shreds, and bean sprouts so that they could have a meal when they got home in the evening.

Mother Zhan was very happy, and she felt a sense of happiness that she was eating for free.

Lin Shu wanted to give her all the meat sauce she had prepared, but Zhan's mother naturally refused, saying that they must each have half, and the meat ticket should be left to Lin Shu. Lin Shu

wanted Zhan's mother to wait for Lu Shaotang or Chen Yanming to come back and see her off, as they were both out today and would be back in the evening, but Zhan's mother refused. Zhan's mother

felt a little embarrassed, as she wanted her future son-in-law to think she was greedy, eating and holding at the same time, which was awkward, so it was better for her to go on her own.

Lin Shu had no choice but to send her to the station.

Zhan's mother went home with a bag of bottles and jars, and couldn't help humming opera on the way, with a layer of joy all over her.

Aunt Qiu, her neighbor who had always been jealous of her, looked at her and said sourly, "Manager Qin, what are you so happy about? Did you make money?"

Aunt Qiu and Mother Zhan were elementary school classmates when they were young. They had always been trying to be outstanding since they were young. She had always compared herself with Mother Zhan, but unfortunately Mother Zhan was prettier and smarter than her, studied well, married well, and had a good job, which made her jealous for decades.

She thought that what made her better than Mother Zhan was that she had two sons and two daughters, while Mother Zhan only had two daughters and no sons.

However, her son liked Zhan Qiuran and tried to pursue her but failed. When she wanted to propose marriage to Mother Zhan, she was also blocked by Mother Zhan, which made her unhappy for a long time.

Later, her daughter got married, her son got married, but Zhan Qiuran never got married. She felt that she was better than Zhan's mother and was proud of it for several years.

Recently, she heard that Zhan Qiuran had a good date, and she was very jealous. Every time she saw Zhan's mother, she would say something sour.

How could Zhan's mother not know her little thoughts?

Before, her daughter didn't get married, and she was too lazy to talk to Aunt Qiu. Now that Ranran has a good date, what is she afraid of?

She smiled and said, "What's so happy about making money? I feel better than making money. I picked a good son-in-law, and I also have good in-laws and good neighbors. Look at how they made these delicious dishes for me. Their skills are so good that they are inferior to those of a level 6 chef!"

Aunt Qiu's face was about to fall to the ground.

"What's delicious? Show me."

Mrs. Zhan: "No, it's windy outside, and the dust will make my teeth greasy."

She went home with a smile.

Although she was old, she had a good figure and had never lost her youth. Her voice was still clear and youthful, and her smile was very irritating to Aunt Qiu's ears.

She went home and heated up the biscuits and steamed buns, intending to eat them directly after Mr. Zhan and the young lady came back.

After a while, Zhan's father came back. He asked with a smile while changing his shoes: "What did you do to make Old Qiu so angry that he was standing on the side of the road like an angry □□?"

Zhan's mother shrugged and said with a sly smile: "I didn't do anything. I can only say that she has a bad temper and is just venting her anger for no reason. In the early years, she often complained behind my back that I didn't give birth to a son. Oh, she does have sons, but the two sons are more troublesome than each other. It's better not to have children."

She glared at Zhan's father while setting the table, "Old Zhan, what's the matter? Do you regret not having a son?"

Zhan's father: "I am more wronged than Dou E. I ran from the capital to Qizhou and begged to marry you, but you didn't care."

He had many brothers since he was a child. When he was a child, he was always fighting. He was really annoyed by those brothers and sisters at home.

Now he has many nephews too. Every time he goes back to his brothers' house, it's noisy and he is troubled.

His daughter is still better.

He looked at his watch, "Why hasn't Jiali come back yet?"

Mother Zhan stuffed a small roll into his mouth, "Approve a copy machine for me tomorrow."

Father Zhan chewed the crisp roll, which was sweet and spicy inside. His eyes lit up and nodded, "Hmm, delicious!" He chewed slowly and swallowed it before saying, "Why did you buy a machine? You don't know how to use it."

Mother Zhan said proudly, "I can't, but my in-laws can."

Father Zhan was a little speechless. Isn't this too proud? Even having in-laws can be used to show off?

Mother Zhan talked about the cooking skills of Lin Shu and her niece, and planned to order clothes from them, "small quantities, high-end products."

Father Zhan: "Then I will go back to the unit to do it tomorrow. Wife, make me another one, it's delicious!"

Mother Zhan: "I remember all the methods. I'm telling you to learn them well. I'll provide meat sauce for your cooking in the future."

Father Zhan: "Didn't your in-laws give it to you?"

Mother Zhan: "That's what I brought back." She looked at Father Zhan and sighed, "Hey, why don't I have such good luck?" She

had to take Old Zhan to find Lin Shu for training.

Two days later, Mrs. Zhan called Lin Shu and said that the overlocking machine had been approved, and asked her whether she would wait for the truck from the city department store to take it back or have it delivered directly to her home.

Lin Shu did not expect Mrs. Zhan to act so quickly, and was very surprised, "Aunt Qin, can you ask the driver from the department store to deliver it to me? There is a tractor coming to my hometown these two days, I will ask them to take it back."

The family called and said that the wheat harvest was almost finished, and the team asked Mrs. Lu and Lin Yue to drive the tractor to deliver it to the temporary workers.

When the time comes, Lin Shu can take the car home to see it, and teach Xiuxiu how to use the overlocking machine.

Mrs. Zhan: "Of course, I will let them deliver it, or I will escort the truck to make sure they don't bump into anything."

And eat a meal.